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com)
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24 | P h o t o g r a p h s Strategies Master the TOEIC

Master the
Photographs
Directions for this Part of the TOEIC: In this part of the test, you will hear four statements about each
picture in your textbook. After listening to all four statements, you must select the one statement that best
describes what you see in the picture. Then find the number of that question on your answer sheet and
mark your answer. The statements will be spoken only one time, and are not printed in your test book.

The Photograph Method

1. Predict Main Nouns.

• ASK: What are the Main Nouns in the photo?
• ASK: Which Nouns are the “center of attention” or “focus” of the photograph?
• Think of possible Synonyms of Main Nouns.
• Pronouns for people (“he”, “she”, “they”) can be Main Nouns.

2. Predict Main Actions.

• ASK: What are the Main Nouns clearly doing?

3. Predict Relationships & Locations.

• ASK: What is the location the photo was taken?
• ASK: Where are the Main Nouns in relation to other Nouns?
• Background Nouns give many Location and Inference Clues.

4. Predict Conditions.
• ASK: What adjectives best describe the Main Nouns?
• ASK: For Photos with no People: Are the Main Nouns in the picture organized or disorganized?

5. Listen to the Statements & Eliminate Tricks.

• ASK: What is wrong with each Answer Choice?
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Master the TOEIC Strategies P h o t o g r a p h s | 25

1. Predict Main Nouns.

• ASK: What are the Main Nouns in the photo?
• ASK: Which Nouns are the “center of attention” or “focus” of the photograph?
• Think of possible Synonyms of Main Nouns.
• Pronouns for people (“he”, “she”, “they”) can be Main Nouns.

When you first look at a photo, think of the Nouns you see. In some photos, there are many Nouns (Objects or
People). However, only a few Nouns are important—they are what the people are looking at or holding; most
important Nouns are also usually near the center of the photo. These Nouns are often the “center of
attention” or “focus” of an activity.

Pronouns for people (“he”, “she”, “they”) can be Main Nouns.

Example:

What Nouns can you see in this photo?  screen, people, table, pencil, laptop, phone,
pitcher, glasses, graph or chart, wall, tie, women,
man

Which of those Nouns seem to be important?  screen, people, table, graph, chart

It is these last six Nouns—they, man, women, table, television screen, chart—that you want to think about while
listening to the Answer Choices. The correct answer will be about one or more of these Main Nouns.
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26 | P h o t o g r a p h s Strategies Master the TOEIC

2. Predict Main Actions.

• ASK: What are the Main Nouns clearly doing?

When you first look at a photo, think of what Verbs could describe what the Main Nouns are doing. In some
photos, like the one below, there is not an easily described “action”. The people below are not eating,
laughing, running or building. However, they are doing something.

Example:

What Verbs are the Main Nouns possibly doing?  sitting, meeting, smiling, hanging, gesturing

Which of those Verbs seem to be most clear?  sitting, meeting, smiling, hanging

It is the clearest Verb that will most often be the correct answer. The people are clearly sitting, and there are
clues that they are talking or discussing something—the woman on the right is gesturing with her hand and the
other two people are looking at her. Focus on Verbs that are clearly seen in the photo. Other verbs might be
true, but there are few or no clues to be certain; for example, the people could be waiting, but it is not clear.

Photographs with No People

Some photos do not have people in them—they may only show objects or a location. With these photos, it is
likely that the correct Answer Choice will use a form of the Verb to be (i.e., “is”, “are”) and will include
Adjectives and Prepositions.
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3. Predict Relationships & Locations.

• ASK: What is the location the photo was taken?
• ASK: Where are the Main Nouns in relation to other Nouns?
• Background Nouns give many Location and Inference Clues.

When you first look at a photo, think of what Location the photo is showing. Also, think of what Prepositions
can describe the relationship between two of the Main Nouns.

Example:

Where are the Main Nouns?  in a room, conference room, meeting room

Where are the Main Nouns in

relation to other Nouns?  at the table, on the table, next to the table,
in the middle of the table, next to the screen,
on the wall, in front of the woman

Because you do not have more than a few seconds to look at the photo, you may not be able to predict every
relationships or location. However, as you are listening to the statements, listen for Prepositions that could
not describe the Main Nouns in the photo; if you hear these, that statement is probably a wrong Answer
Choice.

Remember, it is easier to identify wrong answers than identify correct answers!

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28 | P h o t o g r a p h s Strategies Master the TOEIC

4. Predict Conditions.
• ASK: What adjectives best describe the Main Nouns?
• For Photos with no People: Are the Main Nouns in the picture organized or disorganized?

When you first look at a photo, think of what Adjectives most clearly describe one or more of the Main
Nouns.

Example:

What words best describe the Main Nouns?  happy

Please note that some photos may have no clear Adjectives. If this is the case, then the correct answer is often
going to be about what Action is being shown in the photo.

Photographs with No People

When you see a Photo with no people, ask: are the objects in the picture arranged “neatly” or are they
“disorganized”? The Correct Answer often uses one of those Adjectives (or a synonym of those words).
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5. Listen to the Statements & Eliminate Tricks.

• ASK: What is wrong with each Answer Choice?

Common Photograph Tricks

1. Wrong Object  The copier is on the table.

2. Wrong Action  They are arriving at a meeting.

3. Wrong Relationship/Location  The television screen is on the table.

4. Wrong Condition  The screen is broken.

5. Similar-sounding Word  They are meeting around the cable.

6. Extreme Inference  They are negotiating a deal.

• Correct answers will rarely talk about what happened in the past.
• Correct answers will not predict what will happen in the future.
• The correct answer will describe what can clearly be seen in the picture.

7. Topic Related. Many Tricks will use words related to the Topic of the Photograph. For example, words
such as “negotiating” and “deal” are related to the situation of people meeting, and “copier” is related to
the words “podium” and “overhead”—two objects seen in the photo above.
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More Photograph Strategies

• Listen for what is wrong with an Answer Choice, not what is right. Sometimes you don’t like any of the
Answer Choices. Remember, it is often easier to hear what is wrong with an Answer Choice. Always ask
yourself, “What is wrong with this Answer Choice?” If you can’t hear anything clearly wrong with an
answer choice, keep your pencil on that Answer Choice—it may be the correct answer.

• Background Objects are useful for making Inferences or determining Locations. However, the words
describing Background Objects will usually not be used in Correct Answers. Wrong answers will often
mention these Objects.

• Unless there are many clues, Inferences will usually be wrong answers in the Photographs section of the
TOEIC. If something is not clear from the picture, do not assume it is true because it seems likely or
possible. You may discover that some inferences are correct answers only because the other 3 Answer
Choices are clearly wrong.

• Look at photos while the Narrator is giving directions. Don’t read or follow the directions while the
narrator is reading them. Use the time to look at photographs. However, you cannot turn the page to look
at more than the first two photographs. Don’t turn the page until you are told to do so!

• Ignore Minor Actions in the photo. Minor actions are either in the background or are actions that are not
the focus of the people in the photograph. They are usually not going to be mentioned in correct answers.

• Correct Answer Choices ALWAYS describe or talk about one of the Main Nouns. They are almost
always in the Simple Present or Present Continuous verb tense.

• All Answer Choices, including wrong Answer Choices, are grammatically correct. Don’t eliminate an
answer choice because you think it is grammatically wrong. This is true for all parts of the TOEIC.

• Overly technical or rarely-used words will usually not appear in the Answer Choices.
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Master the TOEIC Strategies P h o t o g r a p h s | 31

The Photographs Method Quiz

Now that you’ve studied this part of the TOEIC, test your memory of its Method! Each time you practice this part of the
TOEIC, return to this page and test your knowledge of the Master the TOEIC Method. Soon, you will master it!

1. Predict ______________.

What are the ______________ in the photo?

ASK: Which Nouns are the ______________ or ______________ of the photograph?

Think of possible ______________ of Main Nouns.

______________ for people can be Main Nouns.

2. Predict ______________.

ASK: What are the Main Nouns ______________?

3. Predict ______________ & ______________.

ASK: What is the ______________ the photo was taken?

ASK: Where are the Main Nouns in relation to ______________?

Background Nouns give many ______________ and ______________ Clues.

4. Predict ______________.

ASK: For Photos with no People: Are the Main Nouns in the picture ____________ or ____________?

5. Listen to the Statements & ______________.

ASK: What is ______________ with each Answer Choice?

Answers are on Page 24.